Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday appeared to blame the victims of last week’s migrant truck horror that left 53 people dead — saying the Biden administration has repeatedly warned those trying to cross the border how dangerous it is this.
Mayorkas was trying to fend off critics who blamed the administration’s allegedly lax border policies for the tragedy.
“We have said repeatedly and continue to warn people not to make the dangerous journey,” Mayorkas said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”
“So tragically we saw in San Antonio, Texas, one of the possible tragic outcomes of this dangerous journey, and so many people don’t even make it that far into the hands of exploitative smugglers.”
He said migrants traveling from Central and South America to the U.S.-Mexico border are being misinformed by trafficking cartels before they make the journey.
“They’re putting their lives, their savings, in the hands of these exploitative organizations, these criminal organizations that don’t care about their lives and are only out to make a profit,” Mayorkas said.
On Monday, a hot 18-wheeler was found abandoned on the side of a remote road in San Antonio — and the bodies of dozens of dead migrants were found stacked inside, with several corpses also found on the ground nearby.
Homeland Security Minister Alejandro Mayorkas blamed the victims of last week’s migrant truck horror that killed 53 people. AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
The truck did not have a working air conditioner, even though temperatures reached 103 degrees.
Charges have been filed against the driver and one of his accomplices.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott was among the first to blame the Biden administration after the tragedy.
Mayorkas was trying to fend off critics who blamed the administration’s allegedly lax border policies for the tragedy. Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty Images
“These deaths are Biden’s,” Abbott blasted on Twitter late Monday. “They are the result of his deadly open border policy.
“They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law,” the Republican governor added.
Authorities said the truck crossed the border into Laredo, about 150 miles south of where it was discovered, after being “cloned” to resemble a legitimate vehicle owned by a local trucking company.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (left) listens to U.S. Border Patrol Deputy Agent in Charge Anthony Crane. Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP, Pool People visit and mark as they leave flowers, candles and water where dozens of dead migrants were found in a truck in San Antonio, Texas, US on June 29, 2022. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Asked by CBS’s Margaret Brennan how the truck was able to cross into the U.S., Mayorkas said smugglers have become more sophisticated in recent decades.
“They have evolved over the last 30 years. … Now, they are very sophisticated, using technology, and they are highly organized transnational criminal enterprises. And we’re much more sophisticated, using technology and staff 24 hours a day,” he said.
He acknowledged that smugglers can use “sophisticated means” to get a truck across the border, but that the U.S. is at the same time increasing its efforts, using technology and manpower to thwart such efforts.
“But I must say that we have interdicted more drugs at ports of entry than ever before. We saved more migrants. We see a challenge that is truly regional, hemispheric in scope, and we are addressing it accordingly,” Mayorkas said.
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